Manhole brace for sewer rod guide tube



y 1969 c. B. CAPERTON 3,444,578

MANHOLE BRACE FOR SEWER ROD GUIDE TUBE Filed Dec. 12, 1967 Sheet of s INVENTOR. Charles B. Copertor Ww M ATTORNEYS.

y 9, 969 c. a. CAPERTON 3,444,578

MANHOLE BRACE FOR SEWER ROD GUIDE TUBE Filed Dec. 12, 1967 Sheet 3 of s INVENTOR. Charles B. Coperton Wa /PM ATTORNEYS.

"E ay 20, 169

C. B. CAPERTON MANHOLE BRACE FOR SEWER ROD GUIDE TUBE Sheet Filed Dec. 12, 1967 INVENTOR. Charles B. Capertc Wa -M ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent U.S. Cl. 15-l04.3 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A clamp and brace assembly is provided for use in manholes for holding the sewer rod flexible guide tube stationary against the reaction forces which are set up when the forwardly driven sewer rod encounters an obstruction. The assembly comprises an elongated pole having a clamp at the bottom adapted to be tightened about the guide tube by rotation of the pole. Paralleling the pole and adjacent thereto are upper and lower brace members the adjacent ends of which are connected together at a hinge. The lower end of the lower brace member is secured to the clamp. The upper end of the upper brace member is slidingly engaged with the pole. When the upper end of the upper brace member is pushed slidingly downwardly on the pole, the hinge moves away from the pole toward the rear wall of the manhole and when the hinge abuts against the manhole wall the clamp and brace assembly is wedged against dislodgement.

Field of the invention This invention relates to sewer rodding equipment, and particularly to the provision of an auxiliary tool for improving the operation of the sewer rodding equipment at the point where it is fed down into the manhole and into the sewer pipe which is to be cleared of obstruction.

Description of the prior art In the prior art, a guide tube or hose has been employed to guide the continuous or coupled spring steel rod from the rodding machine down into the manhole and into the sewer pipe to be cleared. When, however, dur ing the forward drive of the rod into the sewer, an obstruction is encountered, a reaction force is set up in the rod which causes the guide hose to move rearwardly at the bottom of the manhole and introduces thereinto a sharp bend, making it diflicult to continue to drive the rod forwardly.

Summary of the inventi n The present invention provides a clamp and brace assembly the function of which is to prevent the guide hose from moving rearwardly in response to the reaction force of the sewer rod when it encounters an obstruction. A clamp, located at the lower end of a pole, is placed about the forward end of the guide hose and tightened. A brace, hinged at the center, and joined to the pole at each end, is operable from the upper portion of the pole to change the brace from an in-line position to an angular position in which the hinge abuts against the wall of the manhole. In this position, the pole clamp and brace assembly prevents rearward movement of the sewer rod guide tube despite the reaction forces set up when an obstruction is encountered.

Brief description of the drawing FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration showing a preferred form of pole clamp and brace assembly according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the pole clamp and brace assembly of FIG. 1 looking along the line IIII;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view showing how the pole clamp is used to locate the guide tube in desired position;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view showing how the brace is used to lock the guide tube in position;

FIG. 5 is a view, in section, along the line V-V of FIG. 3, showing the brace hinge;

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a modified pole brace and clamp;

FIG. 7 is an elevational View showing another modified pole brace and clamp.

Description of the preferred embodiments In FIGURE 1, a manhole 10 is shown having a sewer section 11 extending toward the left and a sewer section 12 extending toward the right. A trailer containing a rodding machine 15 is depicted in phantom. Extending forward from the rodding machine 15 is a flexible guide tube 22 supported by a stand 16 at the street surface. The guide tube 22 extends downwardly into the manhole 10 and the flared forward end of the guide tube is directed into the sewer section 11. A rod 20, shown to be a coupled steel rod but which may be a continuous steel rod, is depicted having a tool 21 at the forward end, illustrated as a root saw.

In well known manner, the rodding machine 15 drives the steel rod 20 forwardly toward the obstruction (toward the left as viewed in FIG. 1) and at the same time rotates the rod on its own axis to rotate the root saw or other tool 21. 'It will be seen that when the root saw 21 encounters the tree root to be sawed and cleared, the forward drive of the rod 20 will be opposed and will be slowed down. As a result, the flexible guide tube 22 will tend to move rearwardly at the bottom of the manhole (toward the sewer section 12) and a sharp or small-radius bend will be introduced into the guide tube 22 which makes it difficult to apply sufficient forward force of the tool 21 against the obstruction.

To prevent the condition described above from happening, the present application proposes the employment of a pole clamp and brace assembly of the type illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, and shown in detail in FIG. 2.

It should be understood, however, that so far as the details are concerned, the pole clamp and brace assembly may take a number of forms, and that the form illustrated in the drawing is but one of a number of forms.

In FIGS. 2, 3, 4, a pole has at its lower end a relatively short extension 31 externally threaded and flexibly connected to the pole 30, preferably by a universal joint, so as to allow the clamp to sit astride the guide tube 22 while at the same time allowing the pole 30 to extend angularly upwardly therefrom. The lower end of the extension 31 is of reduced diameter, forming a bearing surface 34 for the bearing member 59, held in place by the snap ring 36. Bearing member 59 has laterally extending ears 57 and 58 to which are pivotally conected the clamp jaws 55 and 56.

Secured, as by welding, to the clamp jaws 55 and 56 are short lever arms 53 and 54 having pivotally connected thereto upper lever arms 51 and 52. The upper ends of the upper lever arms 51 and 52 are pivotally connected to laterally extending ears 47 and 48 which project from opposite sides of a collar 44 which is internally threaded, and in which pole extension 31 is rotatable.

When the pole 30 is rotated, as by the square handle at the upper end, the collar 44 moves upwardly or downwardly on the pole extension 31 according to the direction of rotation, thereby to loosen or tighten the clamp jaws. In FIGURE 2, the clamp jaws are shown tightly embracing the guide tube 22. When the handle 35 of pole 30 is rotated in a direction to move the collar 44 upwardly on the pole extension 31, the arms 51, 5 2, 53 and 54 will assume the position shown in phantom in FIG.

2, and the clamp jaws 55 and 56 will release their grip on the guide tube 22.

'Slidably mounted on pole 30 at the upper portion is a collar 43 having therethrough .a set screw 45 for fixing the position of collar 43 on the pole. Secured as by pins to the collar 43, is the upper end of a two-part hinged brace comprising an upper channel member 41 and a lower channel member 42 connected together at their adjacent ends by the hinge 46. The lower end of the lower channel member 42 is shown pinned to the collar 44, but could be pinned to the ears 57, 58 of bearing member 59.

With the clamp jaws 55 and 56 tightly grasping the forward end portion of guide tube 22, in the position shown in phantom in FIG. 3, the pole is moved to the position shown in solid lines in FIG. 3. In the positions shown in FIG. 3, the upper and lower channel members 41 and 42 of the two-part brace are almost parallel with pole 30, and are almost in line. The set screw 45 at the upper collar 43 is then loosened, and the collar 43 is pushed down by the attendant, standing on the street surface above the manhole. This action causes the hinge 46 to move away from the pole 30 (toward the right in FIGS. 3 and 4). As the downward movement of the collar 43 continues, the hinge 46 continues to move to the right until it meets and becomes firmly abutted against the wall of the manhole, as is illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 1. The set screw 45 is then tightened to lock the pole clamp and brace in the position shown.

It will be seen from looking at FIGURE 1 that, in the absence of a restraining means, such as the pole clamp and brace assembly illustrated herein, when the tool 21 encounters a tree root or other obstruction, the reaction force in rod 20 will move the lower end of the guide tube 22 rearwardly away from the sewer section 11 toward the sewer section 12. Such movement is prevented, however, by the pole clamp and brace assembly shown, described and claimed herein. Thus, an undesirable shortradius bend in the guide tube 22 will be avoided.

Various modifications may be made to the constructional details of the pole clamp and brace assembly without departing from the concept of the present invention. For example, the lever arms 51-54 may be replaced with a pair of straight rods, one for each clamp jaw, and the rods may extend up to the collar 44 through apertures in a disc secured to and movable up and down with the collar 44 to cause the rods to converge or diverge as the collar 44 is moved down or up.

For use in square manholes, as distinguished from circular manholes, the pole clamp and brace assembly may preferably be provided with a pair of two-part braces, rather than -.a single two-part brace as has been previously described. A plan view of such a modified assembly is shown in FIG. 6. In FIG. 6, one of the two-part braces is identified as 41, 42, and the other as 41a, 42a. The two hinge points 46 and 46a, may preferably be connected, as by a cable or tie rod 49, to prevent spreading apart of the brace members.

In another slightly modified form of the invention, the short extension 33 which in FIGS. 1-4 is flexibly connected to the lower end of the pole 30, is omitted as unnecessary, by using the device in reverse position, as illustrated in FIG. 7. In FIG. 7, the pole 130 extends rigidly all the Way down through the lower collar 44 where it connects to the bearing member 59. To function as a clamp and brace, the pole 130 is placed inclined between the forward lower edge of the manhole and the rearward upper edge, as viewed in FIG. 7, and the two-part brace 41, 42 faces in the forward, rather than the rearward direction. Each of the legs 41 and 42 preferably terminates at the pole end at a slidable collar, 43 and 143. Each of the slidable collars 43 and 143 is capable of being adjustably set at a selected position on the pole 130, as by a set screw. With collar 143 set, as the collar 43 is moved slidingly downward on the pole, the hinge 46 moves outwardly in the forward direction until it abuts against the manhole wall.

When the tool (not shown) at the forward end of the rod 20 in FIG. 7 meets an obstruction, and the forward progress of the rod is slowed down, the resultant reaction force will be rearward and the guide tube 22 will try to move rearwardly along the floor of the manhole. The lower end of the rigid pole will then try to move rearwardly along an arc the center of curvature of which is the hinge 46, and will be prevented, by the fioor of the manhole, from moving more than a short distance. Thus, the pole and brace assembly of FIG. 7 will be effective for its intended purpose.

What is claimed is:

1. A pole clamp and brace assembly for use with underground pipe clearing apparatus having a supply of sewer rod and means for driving said rod forward, and in which a guide tube is used to guide the sewer rod down into the manhole and forwardly into the underground pipe to be cleared, said assembly comprising:

( 1) an elongated pole;

(2) a clamp assembly at the lower end of said pole for clamping about the guide tube;

(3) a hinged two-part brace comprising an upper member and a lower member hinged together at their junction;

(4) the upper end of said upper member being secured to said pole for movement therealong;

(5) the lower end of the lower member being supported by said pole;

(6) whereby when the upper end of the upper brace member is moved downward on the pole, the hinge of said brace moves away from said pole into engagement with the manhole wall to form with said pole an angular assembly wedgable in said manhole.

2. A device according'to claim 1 characterized in that said clamp assembly comprises:

(a) a collar threaded on the lower portion of said pole for movement therealong in response to rotation of said pole;

(b) a pair of opposing clamp jaws;

(c) lever arms connecting said collar to said clamp jaws for opening and closing said clamp jaws in response to movement of said collar along said pole.

3. A device according to claim 1 characterized in that the upper and lower members of the hinged two-part brace are channel members adapted to partially receive said pole.

4. A device according to claim 2 characterized in that the upper and lower members of the hinged two-part brace are channel members adapted to partially receive said pole.

5. A device according to claim 2 characterized in that the lower end portion of said pole includes an extension pivotally coupled to the pole, and in that said collar is threaded on said extension.

6. A device according to claim 4 characterized in that a pair of hinged two-part braces are supported on said pole.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,961,674 11/1960 Hunt 15-1043 3,347,586 10/1967 Sharp 294-19 EDWARD L. ROBERTS, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

